Surely, by now, we’ve all noticed that the grocery store shelves are staying filled.

Yes, okay, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes are hard to come by. But fruit and vegetables are reappearing overnight. And milk. And cereal and steak and soap and juice and canned food. Really, for a society fighting a pandemic, we have plenty of just about everything.

Here’s why: some time during the day or night a tractor trailer turns into the store’s vacant parking lot, piloted by a driver who safely guides the big machine backwards to sync with the loading dock. Then he (or she) waits while tonnes of crates and pallets are removed, does the paperwork, climbs back up into the seat, starts the engine, and rolls away.

It happens tens of thousands of times a day, all over Canada and America, mostly hidden from a public that arrives within hours to fill carts.

Listing everything moved between supplier and retailer by trucks would exhaust everyone’s attention. So let’s keep it simple:

Ninety per cent of all consumer goods move by truck. Sometimes they move by ship or train first, but eventually, they’re delivered by truck. If you got it, as the saying goes, a truck brought it.

Half of the food on Canadians’ tables comes from the United States by truck. Seventy percent of everything in the Canada/U.S. trade network – and it is one vast trade network – moves by truck. Those life-saving medical supplies we’re all reading about? Trucked. Parts for new ventilators? They’ll arrive at the manufacturers by truck. Which is also how the assembled ventilators will be delivered to hospitals.

There are roughly 317,000 Canadian truck drivers on the road. Seventy per cent of the trucks that cross the U.S.-Canada border have Canadian plates. Trucks are an efficient, organized hive. Without them, supply chains would snap, and the fears that have driven the panic buying we’ve seen across North America would suddenly be justified.

Trucking companies have stepped up, continuing operations even though an increasing number of trips nowadays involve returning to base empty, meaning these companies are facing revenue challenges associated with these increasing empty miles.

The government of Canada doesn’t need to be told how crucial trucking is to our way of life — it has worked hard in collaboration with the trucking industry during this crisis. That’s why the common border remains wide open to cargo. It’s why truck drivers are deemed an essential service and are exempted from the quarantine rules that now apply to other travellers, and why some transport regulations are temporarily relaxed should supply chain flexibility be required.

There’s been some heartening public support, too, a lot of it on social media, hashtag #thankatrucker.

But people are scared, and truck drivers are running into that, too.

Normally, while a truck is being unloaded, the driver is offered access to the facility’s amenities. Some places are still doing that. But others are now insisting drivers stay in their trucks. Bathrooms are off limits. Some drivers are shunned.

Look, we all feel the anxiety. But respect is a universal balm. Restaurant Canada members understand that. McDonald’s and A&W, which are now closed to diners and whose drive-thru lanes are too small for big rigs, are offering drivers curb service. Thanks for “tirelessly and bravely continuing to provide essential services to help keep us all safe and healthy,” said McDonald’s Canada.

Well. That’s just … nice.

If you can’t give a truck driver access to the bathroom, maybe set up a porta potty, and make sure it stays clean. Have some water, coffee, and sandwiches on hand; if your employees have hand sanitizer, offer some to the driver. By all means, socially distance (the driver will, too). But there are still all sorts of ways to be kind to our nation’s truck driving heroes.

And a smile and a wave on the road adds a little bit of pleasant to a long trip. Let’s keep that in mind, next trip to the grocery store. Reach out and #thankatrucker.

Maryscott Greenwood is CEO of the Canadian American Business Council, while Stephen Laskowski is the President of the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.